The Pioneer Woman has never steered me wrong. I don’t know her personally, but based on her blog, I feel pretty confident that I can say this: the woman can cook. I tried this recipe last week, and let me tell you, this is a great process for making perfect homemade fries. It is really worth the extra time and energy to make these.
Ingredients
2-3 pounds of white potatoes
Vegetable or peanut oil for frying
Sea salt
(And lots of paper towels)
Preparation Instructions
IMPORTANT: Please be careful when frying with hot oil. Keep the pot on the backburner so little kiddos won’t get hurt.
Peel and rinse the potatoes, then cut them into sticks by cutting the potato in four or five vertical pieces, then cutting each piece into sticks. Place them in a large bowl and cover with cold water, then allow them to soak for two or three hours. (You can also stick them in the fridge and let them soak for several hours or overnight).
When you’re ready to make the fries, drain off the water and lay them on two baking sheets lined with paper towels. Blot them with paper towels to dry them. (This is really important to help with oil spattering—it’s best not to place wet ingredients in hot frying oil).
Heat a few inches of oil in a heavy pot to 300 degrees. In 3 or 4 batches, cook the potatoes for about 4 to 5 minutes per batch, or until the potatoes are soft. They should not be brown at all at this point! You just want to start the cooking process. Remove each batch and drain them on new/dry paper towels.
Once all the potatoes have been fried at 300, turn up the heat until the oil reaches 400 degrees. When the oil’s hot, start frying the potatoes in batches again, cooking until the fries are golden and crisp. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.
Sprinkle fries with sea salt and dive in!
